JP2008121683A - Control method for engine according to driver input and control system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control method for an engine capable of obtaining both highly responsive drive feeling in a low traffic status and fine torque controllability in a heavy traffic status. <P>SOLUTION: The method for controlling an engine of a vehicle according to a driver input comprises a step for: during a first non-cruise control state and at a predetermined first distance to a forward vehicle, adjusting an engine output according to the driver input with a first relationship; and a step for, during a second non-cruise control state and at a second greater distance to a forward vehicle, adjusting the engine output according to the driver input with a second relationship different from the first one. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an engine control method and a vehicle control system, and more particularly, an engine control method capable of adjusting a relationship between an accelerator pedal operation amount and a powertrain response, and such an engine is mounted. Related to the vehicle control system.

  The vehicle control system allows the driver to control the powertrain by receiving various commands including accelerator pedal input. The relationship between the amount of accelerator pedal operation by the driver and the response of the powertrain can be adjusted to achieve different driving feelings and driving performance and can be adjusted based on various engine driving conditions or vehicle driving conditions Can be done. However, there may be conflicting factors when adjusting the relationship between the pedal and the output response based on various factors.

  For example, a high gain may be desired to provide a more “peppy” driving feeling in relation to some small pedal effort and / or low vehicle speed conditions. This is especially true when the vehicle is designed with an under-powered powertrain to improve fuel economy and / or reduce emissions. In other words, fuel economy can be improved by a smaller engine and / or a transmission with a predetermined gear ratio, but this may feel unresponsive during tip-in acceleration from low speeds. .

  On the other hand, in order to provide more sophisticated engine and / or vehicle torque characteristics that are easier to select and adjust for torque in relation to small pedal strokes and / or low vehicle speed conditions. In addition, a low gain may be desired. This is particularly true for driving operations under traffic conditions with many vehicles and / or driving operations when the vehicle is parked or on rough roads.

  These and other problems can be solved, at least in part, by adjusting the relationship between pedal input and output using vehicle driving environment and / or traffic condition indicators. For example, considering the distance to the preceding vehicle that indicates the traffic situation, it is possible to obtain a peppy driving feeling in a traffic situation with few vehicles, while allowing fine torque adjustment in a traffic situation with many vehicles The gain can be adjusted. The distance to the preceding vehicle may be provided based on information already available in some adaptive cruise control systems (adaptive cruise control systems). Such information can be used effectively even in non-cruise control conditions.

  Similarly, the driver also has some selection sensitivity based on the desired fuel economy, such as through a selectable fuel economy switch, regarding how the gain is adjusted in response to such information. (Gain) can be selected, so that gain adjustments more appropriate to the driver's needs and / or purposes are made. In one embodiment, by integrating both gain adjustment based on environmental information and gain adjustment based on driver selection, it provides the driver with the desired fuel economy capability in a smooth and coordinated manner. However, it is possible to provide improved driver viability (ease of driving) over various situations.

  The relationship between the pedal input by the driver and the output of the vehicle and / or engine can be further adjusted based on various driving parameters such as engine speed, vehicle speed, gear ratio, etc. It should be noted that it can be adjusted in various ways, including gradually adjusting over time. Further, gain adjustment may include adjusting software-based transfer functions, algorithms, analog circuitry, signal processing, and / or combinations thereof.

  As described above, according to the engine or vehicle control method of the present invention, it is possible to provide improved driver viability over various situations while providing the driver with a desirable fuel economy capability. it can.

  FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of one of the cylinders of a multi-cylinder engine 10, where the combustion chamber of the engine 10, i.e., cylinder 30, is shown including a cylinder wall 32 that surrounds a piston 36. The piston 36 is drivingly connected to the crankshaft 40 by a connecting rod. A starter motor (not shown) may be coupled to the crankshaft 40 via a flywheel (not shown). The cylinder 30 can communicate with the intake manifold 44 and the exhaust manifold 48 via respective intake valves 52 (not shown) and exhaust valves 54 (not shown). The intake valve 52 and the exhaust valve 54 can be driven via the intake camshaft 51 and the exhaust camshaft 53. The position of intake camshaft 51 and exhaust camshaft 53 can be monitored by intake camshaft sensor 53 and exhaust camshaft sensor 57, respectively. Intake valve and / or exhaust valve control is controlled via electric valve actuation (EVA) based on signals supplied by the controller. In addition, the intake and exhaust valves 52, 54 may include cam profile switching (CPS), variable cam timing (VCT), variable valve lift (VVL), and / or It can be controlled by other mechanical control systems, including variable valve timing (VVT). In some embodiments, the valve control technique may include a combination of two or more of the control techniques described above. The figure shows one intake valve and one exhaust valve for cylinder 30; however, in some embodiments, cylinder 30 may include two or more intake and / or exhaust valves. Should be noted.

  A fuel injection valve 66 is disposed in the intake port 44, receives a signal (FPW) from the controller 12 via the driver circuit 68, and supplies fuel proportional to the pulse width. Fuel is supplied to the fuel injector 66 by a fuel system (not shown) including a fuel tank, a fuel pump and a fuel rail. Although engine 10 is described herein with reference to a gasoline combustion engine, in some embodiments, engine 10 is configured to utilize a variety of fuels including gasoline, diesel, alcohol, and combinations thereof. It should be noted that it can be done.

  Intake port 44 is shown communicating with intake manifold 42 via throttle valve 64. Further, the throttle valve 64 may be coupled to the electric motor 62 so that the position of the throttle valve 64 can be controlled by the controller 12 via the electric motor 62. Such a configuration is called electronic throttle control (ETC) and can also be used for idle speed control.

  A distributorless ignition device 88 supplies an ignition spark to the combustion chamber 30 by the ignition plug 92 in response to the ignition advance signal SA from the controller 12. Although a spark ignition component is shown, in some of the embodiments, the engine 10 (or part of its cylinder) does not include a spark ignition component and / or is operated without the need for a spark. There is a case.

  The engine 10 supplies torque to a transmission (not shown) via the crankshaft 40. Crankshaft 40 may be coupled to a transmission torque converter via a turbine shaft. The torque converter may include a bypass clutch or a lockup clutch. The lock-up clutch can be driven electrically, hydraulically, or electrohydraulic, for example. The transmission may have an electronically controlled transmission with a plurality of selectable discontinuous gear ratios. Alternatively, in some embodiments, the transmission may be configured as a continuously variable transmission (CVT) or a manual transmission.

  An exhaust gas sensor 126 is disposed at a position upstream of the catalytic converter 70 in the exhaust manifold 48. The sensor 126 can correspond to various different sensors depending on the exhaust configuration, and the catalytic converter 70 corresponds to a plurality of various exhaust treatment devices arranged in the exhaust depending on the exhaust configuration. Note what you can do. Sensor 126 is exhaust gas oxygen (EGO) sensor, linear oxygen sensor, universal exhaust gas oxygen (UEGO) sensor, two-state oxygen sensor, heated exhaust gas oxygen It may be a sensor for supplying an air-fuel ratio indicator of exhaust gas, such as a (HEGO) sensor, HC sensor or CO sensor. For example, the high voltage state of signal EGOS indicates that the exhaust gas is richer than stoichiometric (theoretical air-fuel ratio = stoichiometric), and the low voltage state of signal EGOS indicates that the exhaust gas is leaner than stoichiometric. Show. Furthermore, the signal EGOS may be used to estimate and confirm various situations of the desired engine control mode.

  As described above, FIG. 1 shows only one example of a cylinder of a multi-cylinder engine, and each cylinder has its own set of intake / exhaust valves, fuel injection valves, spark plugs, and the like. Furthermore, although the engine described above is shown with a port injection configuration, it should be noted that the engine may be configured to inject fuel directly into the cylinder.

  In FIG. 1, the controller 12 includes a microprocessor unit (CPU) 102, an input / output port 104, an electronic storage medium (ROM) 106, a random-access-memory: RAM) 108, keep-alive memory 110, and a data bus, schematically shown as a microcomputer. In addition to the signals described above, the controller 12 provides a measured value (MAF) of intake mass flow by the mass flow sensor 120 coupled to the intake manifold 142, engine coolant temperature (from the temperature sensor 112 coupled to the cooling sleeve 114). ECT), profile ignition pickup (PIP) from Hall effect sensor 118 coupled to crankshaft 40, throttle position TP from throttle position sensor 120 in electric motor 64, and absolute manifold from sensor 122 It receives various signals from sensors coupled to engine 10, including pressure signals (Manifold Pressure Signal: MAP). A pedal position indicator (PP) may be determined by a pedal position sensor 134 that detects the angle of the pedal 130 according to the driver input 132. An engine speed signal RPM is generated in a conventional manner from the signal PIP by the controller 12, and a manifold pressure signal MAP from the manifold pressure sensor provides an indication of the degree of vacuum (negative pressure) or pressure in the intake manifold. provide. The controller 12 controls the amount of fuel supplied by the injection valve 66 so that the air-fuel mixture in the cylinder 30 can be selected to be stoichiometric, richer than stoichiometric, or leaner than stoichiometric. I can do it. In some embodiments, the controller 12 can control the amount of evaporated fuel purged into the intake port via a fuel vapor purge valve (not shown) communicatively coupled to the intake port. Further, in some embodiments, the engine 10 may provide an exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) that circulates a desired portion of the exhaust gas from the exhaust port 48 to the intake port 44 via an EGR valve (not shown). ) May include a system. Alternatively, some of the combustion gas may be retained in the combustion chamber by adjusting the exhaust valve timing.

  The controller 12 may also perform cruise control operations when set by the vehicle driver. In one example, the cruise control system is also known as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), which can perform braking, throttle control and vehicle speed control of the vehicle braking system 98 according to various operating parameters. The so-called Intelligent Cruise Control (ICC) driving can be performed. In one example embodiment, the driver can set the target vehicle speed via movement of the pedal 130 and / or the cruise control input device 96 and can activate the cruise control system. Thereafter, the cruise control system may adjust engine power (eg, via throttle 62, plug 92 ignition timing, air / fuel ratio, etc.) and / or control the transmission to maintain the target vehicle speed. Furthermore, the target vehicle speed driving or the target vehicle driving can be interrupted according to the distance from another vehicle or other obstacle ahead of the vehicle measured by the distance sensor 94. The sensor 94 may use radar, sonar, laser measurements, or various other techniques to obtain a measurement of the distance to the vehicle ahead or other obstacles. In addition, sensor 94 may also provide an indication of its speed as well as the distance to the vehicle ahead. As such, the vehicle control system intentionally reduces engine output to reduce the vehicle speed below the speed set by the driver when the distance to the vehicle ahead is shorter than a predetermined lower limit. And / or the transmission can be controlled. In addition, the cruise control system uses a combination of distance, vehicle speed (eg, front vehicle speed, speed at which the vehicle is controlled), and various other conditions to adjust vehicle speed and / or engine torque. There is a case.

  However, information about the vehicle traffic situation (such as distance to the vehicle ahead) can also be used to adjust driving in non-cruise control conditions in addition to cruise control driving. In one example, in low speed driving conditions, the distance to the vehicle ahead can be used to control engine torque in response to driver pedal input. For example, during low speed operation where the distance to the vehicle ahead is shorter than the selected distance, the increase (sensitivity) of the engine torque with respect to the depression of the pedal can be reduced so that the driver can more precisely and easily The vehicle speed can be adjusted.

  In another example, the distance to the vehicle ahead and its rate of change may be used along with other inputs to estimate driving conditions. For example, using a combination of inputs such as steering angle and / or steering amount, accelerator pedal and / or brake pedal operating frequency and operating amount swing, vehicle speed, distance to the front vehicle, front vehicle speed, etc. Thus, urban driving with noronoro driving (ie, with many stops and go) can be distinguished from highway or freeway driving. And during the selected situation, the sensitivity of the engine torque to the depression of the accelerator pedal allows the driver to control the engine torque and vehicle speed more finely during city driving compared to higher speed constant speed driving. Can be adjusted.

  In yet another embodiment, the amount of gain adjustment between pedal operation and engine or vehicle operation is such as a fuel economy mode or performance mode set by the driver input device 90. It may be further based on the setting of the operation mode. In one example, only two modes can be selected, while in another example, a plurality of modes may be provided in a range from economy to performance. As an example, there is a case where the degree of detuning of the gain when the distance to the vehicle ahead becomes a predetermined lower limit value (only) in the economy mode is larger than that in the performance mode.

  In addition, various other example systems are described herein. Specifically, details of a control routine that can be used with various engine configurations as shown in FIG. 1 are included below. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the specific routines in the flowcharts described below are numerous such as event driven, interrupt driven, multitasking, multithreading, and their types. One or more of the processing schemes may be represented. The various steps or functions described are themselves performed in the order described or in parallel, or in some cases some may be deleted. Similarly, the order of processing is not essential to achieve the features and advantages of the exemplary embodiments of the invention described herein, but is provided for ease of illustration and description. Although not explicitly shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will understand that one or more of the described steps or functions may be performed iteratively depending on the specific control logic used. I will. Further, these figures can be graphically represented codes that are programmed into a computer readable storage medium in the controller 12.

  2 to 4 are flowcharts showing a method for controlling the engine in accordance with the driver's pedal operation in the cruise control state and the non-cruise control state.

  With reference to FIG. 2, a routine for adjusting engine power via an adjustable relationship based on pedal operation is described. Initially, at step 210, the routine selects the current relationship between the pedal depression amount and the target engine torque and / or vehicle torque (which may include target torque, target acceleration, target speed, or combinations thereof) or the current Read the relationship. More detailed determination, selection, and / or adjustment of the relationship will be described later with reference to FIGS. Although various relationships can be used, the routine may use a transfer function to map pedal depression and target output over various driving conditions. In addition, or alternatively, a pedal gain function may be the relationship between the pedal input and the engine output, or the relationship may be adjusted.

  Continuing with FIG. 2, at step 212, the routine reads the current pedal position as actuated by the vehicle driver. For example, the routine can read the current pedal position (PP) from sensor 134. Input filters, noise filters, and / or other signal processing may also be used for the pedal depression reading process.

  Next, in step 214, the routine determines a target engine torque based on the pedal position in step 212. In addition, various other operating parameters are used to determine the target engine torque, such as engine speed, vehicle speed, atmospheric pressure, outside air temperature, gear ratio, and / or other parameters of the same type, for example. There is. Next, at step 216, the routine determines a target throttle position based on the target engine torque and the current operating condition. In one specific example, the routine determines the target throttle position based on the target engine torque, the engine speed, and the engine refrigerant temperature. In this example, a throttle is used to adjust the engine torque, but various other engine operating devices can be used. For example, a valve / event adjusting device, a valve / lift adjusting device, a supercharging adjusting device, a valve / timing adjusting device, a fuel mass adjusting device, an air / fuel ratio adjusting device, an ignition timing adjusting device, an injection timing adjusting device, or a combination thereof Alternative actuators or additional actuators such as can be used to adjust the engine torque.

  Thereafter, in step 218, the routine adjusts the electric throttle to reach the target throttle position. In this way, the engine throttle can be adjusted in response to a command from the driver using the relationship selected in step 210, taking into account various other current driving conditions.

  Various other methods may also be used to adjust engine power and / or engine throttle angle or opening. In one example of an alternative embodiment, the routine may directly identify the target throttle position depending on the pedal position and the map (relationship) of step 210.

  In either case, the routine electrically controls the throttle position based on the gain / transfer characteristics of the map in step 210 in response to the driver's pedal operation to provide a target response characteristic. As described herein, various adjustments to the gain / transfer function can be used based on various situations, including distance to the vehicle ahead. It allows a high gain so that the driver can feel better engine performance in less crowded road conditions, while in a crowded road situation, the driver can increase engine torque and / or vehicle output torque. Can be used to allow low gains to be fine-tuned.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 3, a routine for determining whether or not to adjust the gain / transfer function between the pedal position and the target torque and how to adjust the gain / transfer function will be described. Initially, at step 310, the routine determines whether the pedal gain / transfer function can be adjusted. In one example, gain adjustment may be enabled at selected conditions, such as during low vehicle speeds and / or low engine speed conditions (eg, engine and / or vehicle speed below a threshold). Alternatively, pedal gain adjustment may be possible after a warm-up condition of the vehicle, such as after the engine refrigerant temperature reaches a threshold value. In addition, various other conditions may be utilized to determine whether pedal gain adjustment is possible.

  When YES at step 310, the routine proceeds to step 312 to determine if cruise control is operating. For example, the routine may determine whether the cruise control system is operational, depending on the state of the switch that can be selected by the user as indicated at 96. Alternatively, the routine may determine whether the cruise control system is in an “on” state. Further, it may be determined that the vehicle is in the non-cruise control state depending on whether the vehicle speed is equal to or lower than a predetermined vehicle speed. Further, the routine may determine whether the cruise control is currently providing engine torque and / or vehicle speed to provide a target vehicle speed set by the vehicle driver. In one specific example, the routine determines whether the driver is currently overriding the cruise control set speed or whether the cruise control system has been overridden by the vehicle driver. . When the cruise control system is in operation, the routine proceeds to step 314 to maintain the current pedal gain / transfer function at the current setting. On the other hand, if NO at step 312, the routine continues to step 316.

  In steps 316 to 322, the routine may be used from a sensor and / or cruise control system to adjust the pedal gain / transfer function to improve vehicle drivability and performance during non-cruise control conditions. Use other information. Initially, at step 316, the routine reads the distance to the vehicle ahead and, if present, the current mode selection. For example, the routine can read whether it is in performance mode and / or economy mode via a switch 90 selectable by the driver. Further, the routine can read the distance from the sensor 94 to the vehicle ahead. Next, in step 318, the routine processes the readings from step 316 and other driving conditions in association with each other to estimate the current driving environment. For example, the routine estimates whether the current state represents an urban driving state or other driving state of the city. As noted herein, the routine may include, in addition to or in addition to the distance to the vehicle ahead and the current mode selection, the number of times the vehicle's accelerator pedal and / or brake has been activated, steering angle, steering and / or braking history. May further include information including vehicle speed and / or various other conditions. Next, in step 320, the routine determines a pedal gain / transfer function based on the driving conditions and other operating conditions. For example, the routine may determine between the pedal position and the target torque or target throttle position depending on various operating conditions including distance to the vehicle ahead, driver mode selection, and / or vehicle speed, engine speed, etc. Detune one or more of the gain / transfer functions. Thereafter, in step 322, the routine adjusts the gain / transfer function and changes as necessary, in the appropriate manner described further below with reference to FIG. 4 at the appropriate timing or conditions.

  In this way, the vehicle performance recognized by the driver through the relationship between engine power and pedal actuation can be adjusted based on various conditions including traffic conditions, vehicle speed, and others.

  With reference to FIG. 4, an example of a routine for adjusting the pedal gain / transfer function is described. Initially, at step 410, the routine determines whether an adjustment has been requested. If so, the routine proceeds to step 412 to monitor operating conditions. Thereafter, in step 414, the routine determines whether the operating condition is within a predetermined region (window) where the gain / transfer function should be changed. In one example, the routine determines whether the accelerator pedal is closed (released) in terms of being able to change the gain / transfer function in a state that is difficult for the driver to recognize. There is a case. In another example, the routine determines whether the pedal is fully operated by the driver. In yet another example, the routine may monitor vehicle speed and engine speed to allow gain adjustment during low speed conditions. In addition, various selected windows can be used to change the gain / transfer function.

  If such a condition is found at step 414, the routine proceeds to step 416 to adjust the gain / transfer function. In one example, the gain / transfer function can be adjusted over a predetermined time or a predetermined number of engine operating cycles. For example, filtering may be used to provide a more gradual variable in adjusting throttle response in response to gain / transfer function adjustments. In this way, the pedal gain can be adjusted in a selected manner during selected conditions to allow for improved driving performance.

  The graph of FIG. 5 shows the relationship between the pedal position and the target output torque according to the performance / economy mode selected by the driver and / or the driving mode including the ICC mode. In this example, not only different initial gains are given for each selected mode (performance mode / economy mode), but also different initial gains are given for ICC operation and non-ICC operation. As noted herein, these gains may be further adjusted based on driving conditions such as distance to the vehicle ahead, vehicle speed, and / or traffic conditions.

  More specifically, the graph of FIG. 6 shows the pedal in one specific mode (in this example, non-cruise control mode), depending on changes in traffic conditions, especially the distance to the vehicle ahead. The difference in the relationship between the position and the target torque is shown. That is, FIG. 6 shows an example of a transfer function between the pedal position (from the accelerator pedal close to full open) and the target engine output or the target throttle position. As shown in the drawing, when the distance to the preceding vehicle is large (for example, when there is no preceding vehicle, or in a traffic situation where the number of vehicles is low at a high vehicle speed), the pedal position is low (the pedal depression amount is small) High gain is supplied (eg, when the pedal position is low, the slope is greater than when it is high). The gain at the low pedal position decreases as the traffic increases, as the distance to the preceding vehicle decreases, and as the vehicle speed decreases. In this way, a substantially continuous relationship between the pedal closed state and the fully open state can be maintained while providing various gains.

  However, in the alternative embodiment of FIG. 6 shown in FIG. 7, the gain may be further modified in certain regions. Specifically, greater adjustment (eg, reduction, detune) is provided at low pedal positions (in non-cruise control mode) while more consistent with distance changes from the front vehicle at high pedal positions. Responsiveness (a small amount of gain adjustment with respect to distance change) may be provided.

  Referring now to FIG. 8, the adjustment of the pedal gain via an adjustment (reduction) factor applied to the gain / transfer function is shown. Specifically, Figure 8 shows how the gain / transfer function adjustment / reduction changes based on the distance to the vehicle ahead and the driving conditions such as the vehicle performance / economy mode selected by the driver. Is shown. Again, this example shows one possible method, where the X-axis can include various parameters including combinations of indicators such as traffic conditions, vehicle speed, forward vehicle and distance.

  In this way, the pedal-vehicle responsive gain can be changed to provide a finer torque determination by the driver at low speeds when other vehicles are in close proximity, while other driving conditions. High responsiveness can be provided.

  It will be appreciated that the configurations and routines described herein are exemplary in nature and that many alternative embodiments are possible, and that these specific embodiments should not be considered in a limiting sense. Will be done. For example, the above-described technique can be applied to a V-type 6-cylinder engine, an in-line 4-cylinder engine, an in-line 6-cylinder engine, a V-type 12-cylinder engine, an opposed 4-cylinder engine, and other engine types. The subject matter herein includes all novel and non-obvious combinations and subcombinations of the various devices and configurations described herein and other features, functions and / or attributes.

  The following claims particularly point out certain combinations and subcombinations that are considered new and non-obvious. These claims may refer to “a” component, or “a first” component, or synonyms thereof. It is to be understood that such claims include those having one or more of its components and do not require or exclude those having two or more of its components. Other combinations and subcombinations of the disclosed features, functions, components and / or attributes may be claimed by amending the claims or providing new claims for this or related applications. Whether such a claim is wider than the scope of the original claim, narrower claim, same claim, or different claim, such claim is also hereby It is considered to be included in the subject matter of the book.

It is the schematic which shows the example of embodiment of the engine which can apply this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the various operation | movement performed by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the various operation | movement performed by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the various operation | movement performed by this invention. It is an example map which shows the relationship between a pedal position and target output torque which changes according to various driving | running states and driving modes. It is a map example which shows the relationship between a pedal position and a target torque according to the difference in the distance to a front vehicle in non-cruise control mode. It is an alternative example of the map which shows the relationship between a pedal position and a target torque according to the difference in the distance to a front vehicle in non-cruise control mode. It is a map example which shows the relationship between the distance to the front vehicle according to a driving mode, and pedal gain.

Explanation of symbols

10. Engine
12. Controller
90. Driver input device
94. Distance sensor
96. Cruise control input device
130. Pedals
134. Pedal position sensor

Claims (20)

A method of controlling a vehicle engine in response to a driver input,
Adjusting the engine output according to the driver's input using the first relationship when the distance to the preceding vehicle is in a predetermined first distance range in the first non-cruise control state;
In a second non-cruise control state, when the distance to the preceding vehicle is in the second distance range longer than the first distance range, a second relationship different from the first relationship is used. Adjusting the engine output in response to the driver's input;
Having a method.   The method of claim 1, wherein the driver input is a foot pedal operation.   The method according to claim 1, wherein the second non-cruise control state is a higher vehicle speed than the first non-cruise control state.   The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising adjusting the first and second relationships according to a driving mode of a vehicle selected by a driver.   The engine output includes engine torque, and the engine torque is adjusted by changing at least one of a fuel injection amount, a fuel injection timing, a valve timing, and an air-fuel ratio. The method described in 1.   5. A method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the engine output is adjusted by the position of an electronically controlled throttle valve.   The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising adjusting the engine power in response to a speed set by the driver in a cruise control state.   The difference between the first relationship and the second relationship includes a relatively high gain between the driver input and the engine output in the second distance range. Item 8. The method according to any one of Items 1 to 7. A method of controlling a vehicle engine in response to a driver's pedal input,
In the non-cruise control state, the step of changing the relationship between the pedal position and the engine output according to the vehicle speed, the driving mode of the vehicle selected by the driver, and the distance to another vehicle different from the vehicle. Having a method.   The relationship between the pedal position and the engine output is such that the distance to the other vehicle is longer than the first threshold, and the driver selects a high performance mode in which the motor performance is more important than the fuel efficiency of the vehicle. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein when it is, the gain of the change in engine torque with respect to pedal operation is changed to be greater than when it is not.   The relationship between the pedal position and the engine output is such that the distance to the other vehicle is shorter than the second threshold value, and the driver selects a fuel consumption mode in which the fuel consumption performance is more important than the vehicle performance. 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the method is sometimes modified such that the gain of the change in engine torque relative to pedal operation is less than when it is not. A control system for a vehicle equipped with at least an engine,
Highly intelligent cruise control system that basically controls the vehicle speed according to the driver's set vehicle speed and disables the set vehicle speed according to the positional relationship with other vehicles in the cruise control state. When,
A pedal to which an operation by the vehicle driver is input;
A controller for changing the response of the output from the power train according to the operation of the pedal,
The relationship between the operation of the pedal and the powertrain output during driving of the vehicle is adjusted according to the positional relationship with the other vehicle in a non-cruise control state.
Control system.   The control system according to claim 12, wherein the positional relationship includes a distance from the other vehicle.   The control system according to claim 12 or 13, wherein the positional relationship includes vehicle speeds of the vehicle and the other vehicle.   The control system according to claim 12, wherein the positional relationship includes a relative speed of the vehicle with respect to the other vehicle.   The amount of adjustment of the relationship between the operation of the pedal and the powertrain output is increased as compared to when it is relatively large when the pedal operation amount is relatively small. Control system.   The amount of adjustment of the relationship between the pedal operation and the powertrain output is between this when the pedal operation amount is relatively small, when the pedal operation amount is relatively large, and when they are intermediate. The control system according to any one of claims 12 to 16, wherein the control system is maximized at a pedal operation amount.   The control system according to any one of claims 12 to 17, wherein the adjustment of the relationship between the operation of the pedal and the powertrain output is performed in a predetermined state including a closed state of the pedal. The engine has an electronically controlled throttle valve,
19. The adjustment of the relationship between the pedal operation and the powertrain output is performed by adjusting the relationship between the pedal operation and the throttle valve opening. The described control system.   The control system according to any one of claims 12 to 19, wherein the non-cruise control state includes driving at a vehicle speed equal to or lower than a predetermined speed.

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